Looking for fuzziness in natural language

Abstract

While studies of the role of fuzzy logic in natural language certainly exist, it is not clear that the use of fuzzy logic to represent linguistic constructs is anything more than an engineering convenience. This paper suggests that one reason this situation obtains is because fuzzy logic has been used strictly to elucidate static aspects of natural language (particularly aspects of the lexicon). If one examines dynamic features of natural language, on the other hand, new possibilities for connections between fuzzy logic and natural language emerge. In particular, some results from category theory are used to show that fuzzy logic can have a role in explaining certain otherwise rather obscure properties of linguistic comparatives in English.